A 33-year-old Toledo, Ohio man was sentenced to 160 months in federal prison on Tuesday for engaging in sex acts with a Missouri teenager he first met years earlier through an online gaming platform. U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp handed down the sentence in St. Louis, closing a case that began with an encounter on a gaming site and ended with the girl and her mother being contacted by the FBI before further harm could occur.
Andrew Raymond Crum met the girl through an online gaming platform in 2021, when she was 14 years old, according to The Maryville Forum. Federal prosecutors say Crum began traveling to Missouri in February 2024 to engage in sexual activity with the girl, who was 16 by then. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, prosecutors revealed that Crum used the Snapchat alias “Sassy Man” to exchange sexually explicit images and videos with the victim once their contact moved off the gaming platform.
An Anonymous Tip Stopped a Planned Return Trip
The case might have continued longer had it not been for outside intervention. The FBI's St. Louis Division learned in October 2024 that Crum was planning to return to Missouri, after an anonymous tip alerted investigators, and agents were then able to locate and contact the victim and her mother, per the Justice Department's account. That intervention is credited with stopping Crum from continuing to sexually exploit the teenager, according to the same DOJ release.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker credited members of the public for coming forward, crediting tips like the one in this case with helping rescue child victims, the department's report notes. PacerMonitor identifies the federal case involving Crum, which was prosecuted in Missouri.
Guilty Plea Avoided a Trial
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards led the prosecution, and Crum pleaded guilty to one count of coercion or enticement of a minor in April, eliminating the need for a jury trial in St. Louis, the Justice Department reported. That plea set up Tuesday's sentencing before Judge Schelp, who imposed the 160-month term.
That law carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years, or 120 months, in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment, according to the Federal Register. Because federal convictions carry no parole under truth-in-sentencing guidelines established by the Sentencing Reform Act, Crum is not eligible for parole, the FBI's St. Louis Division noted.
Part of a Broader Federal Crackdown
The Justice Department prosecuted Crum's case through Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched in May 2006 to combat technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation by coordinating federal, state, and local law enforcement resources to locate predators and rescue victims. Missouri federal authorities also prosecuted an out-of-state offender in a separate case; a Utah man was sentenced to 20 years for child exploitation in Missouri.
Crum's case involved contact through an interactive gaming platform that escalated into private Snapchat messaging and, ultimately, plans for cross-state travel that federal agents learned about before it could go further.
